The correct combination is Amazon S3 event notifications to invoke AWS Lambda, which then triggers an AWS Glue job. This architecture is ideal for an event-driven ETL pipeline because S3 can automatically emit notifications when new data lands in the bucket, Lambda acts as a lightweight compute trigger to parse the event and initiate the transformation, and Glue handles the heavy lifting of serverless ETL jobs without managing clusters. On the AWS Certified Machine Learning Specialty MLS-C01 exam, this pattern tests your understanding of building scalable, event-driven data lakes for ML workflows—a common scenario where batch transformation must occur immediately upon ingestion. A frequent trap is choosing Step Functions for orchestration, which adds unnecessary complexity for simple triggers, or selecting Kinesis for batch processing. Memory tip: think of S3 as the doorbell, Lambda as the hand that pushes the button, and Glue as the factory that does the work.
MLS-C01 Data Engineering Practice Question
This MLS-C01 practice question tests your understanding of data engineering. Match the stated requirement to the specific cloud service, access model, or configuration option — many options are valid in isolation but not for this scenario. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
A company is building a data pipeline that ingests data from multiple sources into a centralized data lake on Amazon S3. The data must be transformed before it is available for analysis. The pipeline should be event-driven, automatically triggering transformation jobs when new data arrives. Which combination of AWS services should be used?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Amazon S3 event notifications to invoke AWS Lambda, which triggers an AWS Glue job
Amazon S3 can send events to AWS Lambda or SQS when new objects are created. AWS Glue can be triggered by Lambda to run ETL jobs. Step Functions (option A) can orchestrate but adds complexity. Kinesis Data Analytics (option B) is for streaming analytics, not batch. EMR (option D) requires cluster management.
Key principle: NAT direction and interface roles matter as much as the IP address mapping. Inside/outside designation controls which traffic is translated.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
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Amazon Kinesis Data Analytics for transformation
Why it's wrong here
Kinesis Data Analytics is for real-time streaming, not batch transformation.
✓
Amazon S3 event notifications to invoke AWS Lambda, which triggers an AWS Glue job
Why this is correct
S3 events trigger Lambda, which starts a Glue ETL job; this is event-driven and serverless.
Related concept
Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
✗
Amazon EMR with automatic scaling
Why it's wrong here
EMR requires cluster management and is less event-driven.
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AWS Step Functions to orchestrate the pipeline
Why it's wrong here
Step Functions can orchestrate but is not directly triggered by S3 events without Lambda.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: NAT rules depend on direction and matching traffic
NAT is not only about the public address. The inside/outside interface roles and the ACL or rule that matches traffic are just as important.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
NAT questions usually test address translation, overload/PAT behaviour, static mappings and whether the right traffic is being translated. Read the interface direction and address terms carefully.
KKey Concepts to Remember
Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
PAT allows many inside hosts to share one public address using ports.
Inside local and inside global describe the private and translated addresses.
NAT ACLs identify traffic for translation, not always security filtering.
TExam Day Tips
→Identify inside and outside interfaces first.
→Check whether the scenario needs static NAT, dynamic NAT or PAT.
→Do not confuse NAT matching ACLs with normal packet-filtering intent.
Key takeaway
NAT direction and interface roles matter as much as the IP address mapping. Inside/outside designation controls which traffic is translated.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A media company stores terabytes of video archives that are accessed once a year for audit purposes. Moving these objects to a cold storage tier (Azure Archive, S3 Glacier, or Google Nearline) costs a fraction of hot storage. Questions like this test whether you understand storage tiers, access frequency tradeoffs, and retrieval latency requirements.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Review the four NAT address types (inside local, inside global, outside local, outside global), PAT port overload, and static vs dynamic NAT use cases. Then practise related MLS-C01 NAT questions on configuration and troubleshooting.
Data Engineering — This question tests Data Engineering — Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Amazon S3 event notifications to invoke AWS Lambda, which triggers an AWS Glue job — Amazon S3 can send events to AWS Lambda or SQS when new objects are created. AWS Glue can be triggered by Lambda to run ETL jobs. Step Functions (option A) can orchestrate but adds complexity. Kinesis Data Analytics (option B) is for streaming analytics, not batch. EMR (option D) requires cluster management.
What should I do if I get this MLS-C01 question wrong?
Review the four NAT address types (inside local, inside global, outside local, outside global), PAT port overload, and static vs dynamic NAT use cases. Then practise related MLS-C01 NAT questions on configuration and troubleshooting.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
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Question Discussion
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